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Kiersten Dutrow

Ms. Trabold

Creative Writing

22 May 2019

Final Reflection

This portfolio displays every assignment that we did this year in creative writing. It

shows the progression of writing for this year which allows a change to be seen in the final

product of them. This allowed me to be more creative and a little less structured with my writing.

I am typically a very detail oriented perfectionist, but I learned to take a step back and pursue a

different direction that enabled to discover my own voice as a writer. And perhaps that isn’t

always an academic, formal voice. In January, I spent hours on the short story trying to convey

my point. In May, you can see a change in my creative writing process as I pursued creativity

and originality, rather than being confined in a box. I attribute this change to not only the

structure of the class, but also the overwhelming course load of my other courses. Since I had AP

tests approaching, I had to maintain a time limit on your coursework and I allowed myself to be

creative because I was tired of writing formal essays.

My writing time during the class was normally spent with divided and allotted time for

your assignments and other course work. I often worked ahead and set the due date a day ahead

of time in my planner to ensure all assignments were turned in on time. I have always needed to

maintain some sort of schedule and structure in my life and your class was no different. If I were

to give myself a label, it would be a creative essayist because I try to think of simpler ideas and
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enhance the creativity from there rather than starting out with a huge elaborate plan and getting

stuck. Another label I would give myself that is not listed here would be an editor. I truly enjoy

the editing process and making ideas more intricate and complex to portray meaning.

I typically come up with ideas pretty easily and if I get stumped, then I take a break. I

will put on another song on my playlist or work on something else. By allowing myself to be

productive in alternative ways, I give my brain a rest and it gives me more time to think of

different ideas. The sonnet challenged me the most because I had to restrict all my thoughts into

twelve lines with ten syllables per line. It was difficult for me to do this because I tend to write

more than needed. I enjoyed the feature story the most because it was a fun assignment that did

not require as much brainstorming. The answers were embedded in the document from my

interview and I enjoyed the lessons from Rebecca.

The turning point of the semester was the fractured fairy tale. Rebecca was able to help

bring out my creative side and I was fully committed to going all out for the story because of my

love for all things Disney. The lessons I learned were both personal and academic. As a writer, I

learned that it is okay to be creative. Being formal is okay but it not always necessary. Towards

the end of the semester, I saw myself using a less formal voice so this class allowed me to find

my own creative side. As a person, I learned the value and importance of being open to other

people’s opinions. Going back to the fractured fairy tale, I had to open to hearing Rebecca’s

ideas and be willing to alter my own writing to better fit the message of the story. Through this, I

was more comfortable with other people looking at my work and editing it. I will take these

lessons with me and the writing will stand as reminder of the stepping stones that allowed me to

pursue a different part of my personality.